In 2006, when Birk opened up its news 18,000 square foot addition to its existing building, it was decided that Engineering would move its offices from the front of the building to the new extension. We had chosen the middle office at the rear of the new building because it was one of the larger rooms and we needed to house between five to seven people. We were approached as to how we wanted the room arranged with regards to placement of desks, filing cabinets and shelving units, and then were asked how many cubicle walls we would need in order to separate the room. We said none.
When working with the Birk Engineering Department, you are assigned to an engineer who will oversee your application and design engineering needs in order to deliver your final product. Even though you are assigned to a particular engineer and may have only direct contact with one of us, in essence you are working with the whole team. We have an open office floor plan because we believe the only way to provide you with the optimal design for your end need is to have an open forum. In this way we can all share our ideas with each other. We always have open discussions about current projects and encourage this practice so that everyone can share their ideas and bring in past design experiences in order to solve our easiest and most difficult applications.
If we were to have cubicles and close ourselves off from each other, we would be doing ourselves an injustice. We would have to schedule meetings in order to discuss design ideas and the free flow of thoughts would be stifled. The worst result that would come from this is that we would not be providing the best possible solutions to our customers and that would violate rule #1 around here. Since we do not want to be the perpetrators of that, we choose to live in a cubicle-free environment.
Mark O’Connell
Engineering Manager
Most companies have the desire to grow their customer base and revenues, but how you go about this venture must be very different for each and every company. Our company’s story is a smaller version of the Bill Gates one, who started in a garage much like the owner Norman did. Every day was a challenge then, every order was celebrated and every bill was paid somehow.
Now Birk Manufacturing employs about 75 full time employees that work in a new 33,000 square foot high tech facility, have health benefits, a 401K plan and profit sharing. It may seem cliche to say, call here and you will always speak to a real person, and have direct access to the engineering department, but you will! We remember the owner’s commitment and sacrifice, and realize our existence depends on the approval of our customer; we have to earn your business by delivery quality, on time and cost effectively. Birk Manufacturing company remains humble and very well prepared to deliver now and in the future. We have managed to maintain the small company atmosphere and compete in a world market.
Howard Birk
Vice President
The 5 Rules of Birk convey basic principles we feel are fundamental to doing good business. They are:
1 – Customer First
2 – Help Each Other
3 – Learn New Skills
4 – Communicate
5 – Have Fun
I will write about each one in successive blogs and it’s convenient the first one is about customer service, since that is what I enjoy doing every day.
BIRK RULE #1 – Customer First
We hear the phrase “the customer always comes first” in many different situations throughout our lives, but here at Birk, customer service is really about company culture, and our culture is one of the things we’re most proud of. We feel customer service is everyone’s job and the commitment to not only meet the customer’s expectation, but to exceed it, is apparent throughout our company.
We realize that a customer service experience can change the entire perception a customer has of an organization. Since most of what we make is custom-designed, we often need to find solutions for a particular application and we take the time to identify customer needs right up front. An engineer is always available to discuss the application in detail, so the correct solution is found. After all, we are in business to service our customers, so it is important to not only clearly identify, but to also anticipate, what customers want.
At Birk, you won’t have to talk to a recording or push a lot of buttons to get to a person; someone will always pick up the phone to take your call (of course, voice mail is available after hours so your call is not missed and it will be returned first thing in the morning).
Ultimately, without our customers, we would not be in business. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that we take care of our most vital asset and the reason “Customer First” is the #1 rule at Birk.
Stacey Stevens
Customer Service Manager
Birk Manufacturing, Inc.
Birk Manufacturing’s vision is quite clear; to become the world leader in flexible thermal solutions by supplying our customers with the highest quality design support, manufacturing capability and customer service while continuing to improve operations to lower prices and sustain competitive advantage. One of the key objectives to fulfill this lofty goal is the company-wide implementation of “lean” improvement methodologies. Lean is a set of “tools” that assist in the identification and steady elimination of waste within a process. As waste is identified and eliminated, production time and costs are reduced. Lower costs, shorter lead times, unsurpassed quality, and exceeding customer expectations are Birk Manufacturing’s keys to remaining competitive and increasing our presence within the marketplace.
Since the beginning of 2010, Birk Manufacturing has made huge strides in the application of lean tools and techniques such as 6S, standardization, visual management, improved process flow, batching, poka-yoke, supermarkets, Kanban and more. However, the “lean journey” is a pursuit of perfection, and because perfection does not exist, the pursuit is never ending. There are endless opportunities for continuous improvement and in order to apply lean methodology consistently and remain committed to operation excellence Birk Manufacturing has dedicated a department solely responsible for this task.
The newly developed “Birk Academy of Leadership and Lean” department will be a central entity responsible for the planning, implementing and sustaining lean, kaizen and 6S events, training of new hires and veteran employees on Birk products and processes, developing and coaching emerging leaders within the company, and fostering a culture and atmosphere of continuous improvement. This will be a group effort and will involve every employee, and together as a team Birk Manufacturing will stay devoted to operational excellence and will continue pursuing perfection.
By Carleton Birk
Birk Quality Manager
Birk is an amazing place to work; we are a growing manufacturing company focused on continuous improvement and better serving our customers. To help with this process I have implemented the “Rules” of Birk; the rules are posted throughout the building and are know by all. These rules work great for Birk and could be applied to any company. The key to these rules is not that they are posted, it is that everyone truly believes in the meaning and purpose behind the rules. That is the case here at Birk and because of that everyone here at Birk follow the rules because they will WANT to follow them.
Here are our rules for reference; you may use them as they are OR you may develop your own list.
1. Customer First! – This is the most important rule and is the focus of the entire company
2. Help Each Other
3. Learn New Skills
4. Communicate
5. HAVE FUN! – This rule is almost as important as #1. I believe that if you love what you do and have fun while working you produce not only a better product but also better ideas for future improvements
We at Birk have invested heavily in Lean training and implementation over the course of the past year and the benefits can be seen throughout the entire company, from the office to the shipping bay. These changes have helped us better serve our customers, which is our singular goal here at Birk. These changes have also greatly improved our internal and external communications which have helped make us a much more efficient company.
1. Q: How do I calculate what wattage I will need to reach the my operating temp?
A: We here at Birk can help you with that. There are many factors which go into a wattage calculation including: the heat sink material, the ambient room temperature in which the heater will be operating etc. We make custom heaters everyday so our engineers can work with you to calculate the correct wattage needed for your application.
Q: What is the max operating temperature for your heaters?
A: We manufacture 4 different types of Flexible heater here at Birk. Each type of heater has a unique maximum temperature based on the insulating material used to build the heater. Below is a list of the different insulators and their associated maximum temperature.
1. FEP Kapton – 500˚F
2. Acrylic Kapton – 250˚F
3. Silicone Rubber – 400˚F
4. Butyl – 250˚F
A kapton heater 
Is a polyimide film used in conjunction with etched foil circuits to produce very thin flexible heaters. Kapton? Has excellent dielectric qualities to provide 5000 volts dielectric per . 001 inch (. 025mm) thickness. Birk Manufacturing uses many types of Kapton with two bonding systems. An FEP teflon is a thermo flow polymer and a thermo flow acrylic. The FEP bonded Kapton has a continuous temperature capability of 500°F (260°C), the acrylic bonded Kapton has a continuous temperature capability of 250°F (120°C). Birk can manufacture Kapton heaters up to 6 inches (300mm) wide by 65 inches (1651mm) long, the largest in the industry, and thickness from .003 inches (. 07mm) to . 010 inches (. 254mm).
Using a proprietary process, Birk bonds foil to Kapton. Prior to etching, and after etching then bonds a top insulation ply to the assembly. Birk can also bond these heaters to metal surfaces with a bond line as thin as . 0005 inch (. 0127mm) providing excellent bond strength and heat transfer.
Etched foil circuits can be very accurately produced on Kapton with line widths down to . 010 inches (. 254 mm) thick. Various patterns can be etched into circuits such as holes, cut-outs and flex circuits.
Birk builds Kapton heaters into assemblies which include sensors, heat sinks, fuses, probes and electronics. Many of these products are completely assembled and tested at Birk and shipped directly to our customer inventory.
Termination of Kapton heaters can be in many forms including leads, connectors, solder terminal pads or card-edge-ready.
Birk Manufacturing realizes the stringent requirements of the medical and analytical equipment industries, their need for high quality control standards, traceability of all components and precise work history of each part manufactured by Birk.
We work very closely with our clients in the development of products and establishment of manufacturing and quality control procedures to ensure products meet the customer’s requirements.
The Birk design team has over 100 years of collective application engineering experience, which we make freely available to our clients in collaborate development of new products to meet their specific needs.
Birk can offer customers quick turnaround on new designs because of our in-house capability to perform all the steps in the design and manufacturing process of heaters. We have turned new designs around in a matter of days.
Micro assembly is a common practice as many of the assemblies are built using microscope or TV enlarged image techniques.
Most of the products Birk builds for the medical and analytical industry involve assemblies which can include heat sinks, sensors, switches, fuses, wire harnesses and electronics. Quite often products are performance tested and packaged ready for the customer’s inventory.
